April Cold Wave Minneapolis to Chicago, NYC

After much of the area from the Midwest to the Northeast has a warmup and a spring rainstorm, colder air will return during the first few days of April.

The wave of chill will invade the northern Plains during Easter Sunday and will race southeastward through the Midwest on Monday and will reach the coastal mid-Atlantic and New England by Tuesday.

While the air will certainly not be as cold as most days experienced during March in the region, it will be accompanied by gusty winds. So a person standing outside for more than a few minutes waiting for the bus or train may mind it, especially in the shade, before sunrise or after sunset.

AccuWeather.com RealFeel® temperatures can average 10 to 15 degrees lower than the actual forecast temperature.

As the front marking the leading edge of the chill sweeps through, it can bring brief of showers of rain, snow or wintry mix.

In the wake of the frontal passage, the air will be cold enough to support some lake-effect snow, snow showers and flurries.

Temperatures will moderate from west to east during the middle of the week, so it appears the worst of the chill will only last a couple of days on average in most areas.

Since the overall weather pattern seems to favor blocking (large buckles in steering-level winds high in the atmosphere) for a while longer, additional invasive puddles of cold air are possible through the middle of April. However, at least when the steering winds shift northward in between, strong sunshine will deliver some warm days in the region.

Overall, the pattern still seems to be about a month behind schedule with April behaving more like a typical March: cold at times early and generally warm later in the month.